Issue Position: Fighting Mass Incarceration & Police Brutality
Issue Position
These are unprecedented times in more ways than one. The protests that followed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police have been historic. Now more than ever, Americans are seeing the dangers of a country that has the world's largest prison population and police departments that default to violence, with Black and Latino people being the primary victims.
Protesters are calling for an end to police brutality and people are starting to realize that the way we make neighborhoods safer is by providing people with basic necessities, including affordable housing, stable jobs, accessible health care, and quality schools, not by investing more in the criminal justice system.
As Chair of both the Assembly Public Safety Committee and the Select Committee on Ending the School to Prison Pipeline, Reggie been at the forefront of pioneering criminal justice reform in California. Throughout his time in the Assembly, Reggie has helped enact countless laws that have improved our criminal justice system by curtailing mass incarceration, ending the school to prison pipeline, ensuring police accountability, and promoting restorative justice.
IN SACRAMENTO, REGGIE HAS ADVANCED ECONOMIC JUSTICE BY:
Encouraging Alternatives to Incarceration & Ending Cash Bail
Joint authored law that moves California away from money bail to a risk-based assessment system.
Wrote a law that prevents plea bargains from making a defendant waive potential benefits of future changes in the law.
Authored a law eliminating a mandatory minimum jail requirement for certain low-level drug crimes, instead allowing for judicial discretion.
Co-authored legislation that gives judges the ability to strike a prior felony conviction to avoid a 5-year sentence in the interest of justice.
Wrote a law that requires a court to provide community service instead of fines.
Authored legislation to create a pilot program that decreases incarceration and connects more misdemeanor offenders to supportive services.
Authored legislation that eliminated mandatory jail time for certain low level misdemeanors.
Authored legislation that improved the fairness of the bail system by allowing courts to review staff reports and recommendations in making bail determinations.
Authored legislation that enabled individuals convicted of felonies to seek expungement if their crime is now a misdemeanor.
Authored legislation that requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide transitional services to individuals who have been exonerated.
Authored legislation that allows those sentenced to county jail for felonies to be eligible for work furlough programs.
Ensuring Police Accountability
Chaired the first policy committee to hear and co-authored legislation that revises the standards governing the appropriate use of force for law enforcement.
Co-authored legislation that makes police officer records available for a Public Records Act request if they are related to firing a weapon, deadly or serious force, sexual assault or dishonesty by the officer.
Authored legislation that eliminates the requirement for individuals convicted of a certain drug offense to register with local law enforcement, more effectively deploying law enforcement resources.
Authored legislation that clarifies law to protect Californians against unreasonable seizure of their vehicle.
Authored legislation that places additional notice requirements when law enforcement seizes a firearm.
Authored legislation that prohibits law enforcement from detaining a crime victim or witness solely for an actual or suspected immigration violation.
Co-authored legislation that requires law enforcement to provide notice to a minor and their parents prior to designating the individual as a suspected gang member or associate.
Combatting the School to Prison Pipeline
Authored legislation that creates the Schools Not Prisons Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund as a voluntary income tax return donation. Funds go as grants to nonprofits for the purpose of funding academic and career readiness programs that break the school to prison pipeline.
Authored legislation that removes references to "at-risk" or "high-risk" youth in the education and penal code, replacing them with "at-promise" to recognize the potential of each child.
Introduced and authored legislation that encourages schools to detail the appropriate roles and responsibilities of certain school staff including police officers on campus.
Authored legislation that would ensure that continuation school was not used as an alternative to expulsion and that no student groups are disproportionately sent to continuation schools.
Co-author of legislation that requires the development and adoption of model curriculum in ethnic studies for high schools.
Investing in Communities, Not Criminal Justice System
Authored legislation that provided over $50 million in grant funds to community organizations providing trauma-informed diversion programs to justice-involved youth in lieu of them being arrested.
Co-authored legislation that establishes the California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018 that creates grants for cities and counties to help fund pathways into the cannabis industry for communities affected by the war on drugs, especially communities of color.
Secured over $50 million in budgetary funds for youth diversion, specifically programs that provide supportive services (education, rehabilitation opportunities, job training) to justice-involved youth instead of referring them to county probation.
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